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China and Switzerland
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2011/08/22 |
The year 2010 marked the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the People's Republic of China and the Swiss Confederation. The bilateral relationship enjoyed sound development, with deepening exchanges and cooperation in the political, economic, educational, scientific and technological, cultural and other fields. The two countries enjoyed close high-level exchanges. From 16 to 18 July, NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo paid an official goodwill visit to Switzerland, during which he had talks with President of the National Council Pascale Bruderer Wyss and President of the Council of States Erika Forster-Vannini. From 25 to 28 January, Vice Premier Li Keqiang attended the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos and visited Switzerland, where he held talks with President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Department of Economics Doris Leuthard. From 18 to 21 September, Liu Qi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, paid a goodwill visit to Switzerland. From 10 to 15 August, President Doris Leuthard paid a working visit to China and attended the Swiss National Pavilion Day activities at the Shanghai World Expo. She met with President Hu Jintao, NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo and Liu Qi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee. During her visit to Chongqing, Bo Xilai, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, met with and held a banquet for her delegation. From 12 to 14 September, Moritz Leuenberger, Vice President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, came to China for the Shanghai World Expo and had talks with Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei. From 27 to 29 June, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Federal Councilor and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, visited China and attended the Shanghai World Expo. On 23 December, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Vice President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, had a telephone conversation with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest. Economic cooperation and trade between the two sides was deepened. During President Doris Leuthard's visit to China, the Memorandum Of Understanding Between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs of the Swiss Confederation on the Conclusion of the Joint Feasibility Study for a China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement was signed, marking the official conclusion of the joint feasibility study. The two countries had dynamic exchanges and cooperation in the educational, cultural, and military fields and between localities. From 8 to 9 November, the second Administration Forum between China and Switzerland was held in Beijing. The Exhibition "Albert Einstein (1879-1955)", "The Art of Paper-cutting: East meets West" and the Photo Exhibition "Happy@60" for the 60th anniversary of the bilateral relations were held in China. From 16 September to 7 December, "The Cultural Landscape Arts Festival-China as Guest of Honor" was staged in Basle, Switzerland. Vice Minister of Culture Zhao Shaohua attended the opening ceremony of the festival. From 24 November to 24 December, "Experience China in Geneva" was held in Geneva, Switzerland. Minister of the State Council Information Office Wang Chen attended the opening ceremony of the event. From 16 to 19 May, Minister of Health Chen Zhu had talks with Federal Councilor and Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs Didier Burkhalter on the sidelines of the 63rd session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. From 14 to 18 September, Lieutenant General André Blattmann, Chief of the Armed Forces, paid an official visit to China, during which he had talks with General Chen Bingde, Member of the CPC Central Military Commission and Chief of the General Staff of the PLA and met with General Liang Guanglie, Member of the CPC Central Military Commission, State Councilor and Minister of National Defense. On 26 October, the fourth round of consular (migration) dialogue between China and Switzerland was held in Beijing. By the end of 2010, five sister state/province or city pairs had been formed between the two countries. On 31 August, China's ambassador to Switzerland Dong Jinyi completed his tenure. His successor Ambassador Wu Ken took office on 7 September.
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